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Apple Splitting 'ProCare' into 'ProCare' and 'One-to-One'
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Cool. I had heard that non-ProCare members would be able to make Genius Bar appointments at least 48-hours in the future. Glad to see it's real.
I just tried (as a non-member) to make a Genius Bar appt for an iMac at the Norfolk, VA store. I was able to schedule a time either tomorrow or on Wednesday.
Every time from now on a troll posts we are all Apple apologists (Kool-Aid drinkers) Arn can refer to this thread. He already refers to thread 500 and 2 for other purposes.
Rocketman
Rocketman
The current ProCare is the best deal at Apple. For $99 you get 52 one on one training sessions. Granted if you don't have knowledgable working at the your Apple store then it's not worth it, but for me it is.
They not only cover Mac products but also Adobe/Macromedia products too. They even allow you to bring in projects that you're working on and help you with it.
Another cool thing is, at least my Apple Store allows it, that they allow me to lend my card out to others and bring a guest along to my one-on-one sessions. Very cool.
And it's also a good way to network! I've been able to network and get freelance work with several customers, because of my contacts via ProCare. You just never know who else carries those cards around and when they might ask a ProCare trainer if they know someone who can do XYZ.
They not only cover Mac products but also Adobe/Macromedia products too. They even allow you to bring in projects that you're working on and help you with it.
Another cool thing is, at least my Apple Store allows it, that they allow me to lend my card out to others and bring a guest along to my one-on-one sessions. Very cool.
And it's also a good way to network! I've been able to network and get freelance work with several customers, because of my contacts via ProCare. You just never know who else carries those cards around and when they might ask a ProCare trainer if they know someone who can do XYZ.
I am I the only one who wants Pro Care because of the cool looking card?
Nope, that was part of why I did it.
Glad to hear they'll honor the old benefits. I would be very angry otherwise. ProCare at twice the price isn't such a great value anymore
Do people really understand what this is?
ProCare is not AppleCare. Yes, ProCare allows you to jump in line, but that's only to allow in store Apple reps to look at it. After a year, if you don't have AppleCare, you basically screwed.
The service side of ProCare, the jumping in line, to me has always been a joke. Mainly because, before I had it I would walk in, get a "Genius" and tell them my problem. Never any waiting. Granted I know more about Apple Hardware than the employees at the Apple Store, which helps, but all they do is check my warranty info and then tell me how much it will cost to fix. If a machine I have them looking at has AppleCare (all of our laptops do) then I have them ship it out for repair and I normally have it back within a couple of days. Good as new.
Now the training part of ProCare, as I stated earlier, is awesome. Mainly because Apple staffs their stores with mostly parttime employees who actually use the software for their full time jobs. I've met more Video Editors and Sound Engineers working at Apple (for the discount or because they own their own businesses). And they really know how to use the software and withing be very honest about the limitations.
i was told (by an apple store employee) that you could get around the one a week thing by going to a different store. (thats not possible everywhere because most places only have one store). itwas one a week per store
do you think that will still be the case?
do you think that will still be the case?
No
OMG...you must be some kind of sorcerer... I always wanted to get the card because it looked to damn cool
Think that ones bad, check out thread 501
"iPot iPot iPot is what you should be smoking if you think this things a hit"
Exactly.
Do you know how much I'd charge to set up some peon of a windows user's computer, and then answer 52 hours worth of questions?
Pardon me, but I think it's a great deal.
We are, after all, not the target audience. The mere fact that we know MacRumors exists puts us leaps and bounds above the people this service is for.
So, in other words, stop whining.
Setup is so easy I could do it in my sleep. Apple even make it easy. All I ever needed was my $3 firewire cable!
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
I just remembered that Apple already has an education program called One to One. Having remembered that, I really wonder whether they would create another program under the same name?
http://www.apple.com/education/onetoone
http://www.apple.com/education/onetoone
I have a procare card now and the store by my house has taught me how to use Final Cut. I know that when yo make an appoitment Logic is an option too.
Clarifications
Just thought I'd chime in with my $0.02 on the matter. First off, ProCare is an amazing deal but it's not for everyone, I would guess the majority of people here would never have a need for it.
As some before me have said, where else can you receive 52 hours worth of one on one, personalized, private training with either a Mac Creative or a Mac Specialist? As for the training itself, it is truly world-class. At the Apple Store I go to, the creatives there are so smart and knowledgeable in all the iLife and professional Apple Apps and well as all the Adobe software suite and even Microsoft software. To be a creative at Apple, you need to go through training and thus you are flown to Cupertino where you are trained by guess who? The people at Apple who MADE THE SOFTWARE. So for $99 a year, I am getting training by someone who actually spent time learning Aperture from the software team at Apple who created that software. Still seem like a rip-off?
As for the FastTrack service, it's good if you are in a hurry and want to drop off your computer instead of waiting around for your name to be called in the queue. Non ProCare customers can't just drop off their computer. Also, as far as next in line service goes, Apple explains in their fine print that next in line service is meant only for quick consultations. So if you've got a massive problem on your hands which will need a lot of time to diagnose and service, Apple highly recommends that you make an appointment for that at the Genius Bar which as ProCare members, you can do up to 14 days in advance as opposed to non ProCare members who can only make reservations up to 48 hours.
So now Apple has split ProCare as we knew it up in two and is charging the same amount as it did previously for each service. Truth be told, and I can say this based on what other ProCare members have told me, those who got it for the training barely ever used the FastTrack option and those who got it for the FastTrack service barely utilized the training. Also a lot of switchers and new Mac users when being told about ProCare get so intimidated by it because of the "Pro" in the name. I think one to one is going to be a better success for Apple. I've talked to ProCare customers who got it for the training who expressed their hesitancy to get ProCare because they felt because they knew so little about computers, they would be wasting their time with a Creative or Specialist who knew so much more about computers than they did. Semantically, renaming the training portion of ProCare to one to one is a smart move.
As it was, ProCare was an amazing deal. With the split of it into the new ProCare and One to One, I think it's still a fantastic deal. But again, it's not for everyone. I would guess that with the split, Apple is going to add new features to both the new ProCare and the One to One. The backup consultation is one and I'm sure there will be better training techniques employed or something we've yet to even think about.
Again, just my $0.02. Take it for what you will. If you're deadset on thinking ProCare as it was and the New ProCare and One to One is a rip-off, then that is your opinion but by no means do I think this maneuver by Apple is based in greed or profiteering. Quite the contrary, I think Apple thought of the customer first in coming up with this new system.
Just thought I'd chime in with my $0.02 on the matter. First off, ProCare is an amazing deal but it's not for everyone, I would guess the majority of people here would never have a need for it.
As some before me have said, where else can you receive 52 hours worth of one on one, personalized, private training with either a Mac Creative or a Mac Specialist? As for the training itself, it is truly world-class. At the Apple Store I go to, the creatives there are so smart and knowledgeable in all the iLife and professional Apple Apps and well as all the Adobe software suite and even Microsoft software. To be a creative at Apple, you need to go through training and thus you are flown to Cupertino where you are trained by guess who? The people at Apple who MADE THE SOFTWARE. So for $99 a year, I am getting training by someone who actually spent time learning Aperture from the software team at Apple who created that software. Still seem like a rip-off?
As for the FastTrack service, it's good if you are in a hurry and want to drop off your computer instead of waiting around for your name to be called in the queue. Non ProCare customers can't just drop off their computer. Also, as far as next in line service goes, Apple explains in their fine print that next in line service is meant only for quick consultations. So if you've got a massive problem on your hands which will need a lot of time to diagnose and service, Apple highly recommends that you make an appointment for that at the Genius Bar which as ProCare members, you can do up to 14 days in advance as opposed to non ProCare members who can only make reservations up to 48 hours.
So now Apple has split ProCare as we knew it up in two and is charging the same amount as it did previously for each service. Truth be told, and I can say this based on what other ProCare members have told me, those who got it for the training barely ever used the FastTrack option and those who got it for the FastTrack service barely utilized the training. Also a lot of switchers and new Mac users when being told about ProCare get so intimidated by it because of the "Pro" in the name. I think one to one is going to be a better success for Apple. I've talked to ProCare customers who got it for the training who expressed their hesitancy to get ProCare because they felt because they knew so little about computers, they would be wasting their time with a Creative or Specialist who knew so much more about computers than they did. Semantically, renaming the training portion of ProCare to one to one is a smart move.
As it was, ProCare was an amazing deal. With the split of it into the new ProCare and One to One, I think it's still a fantastic deal. But again, it's not for everyone. I would guess that with the split, Apple is going to add new features to both the new ProCare and the One to One. The backup consultation is one and I'm sure there will be better training techniques employed or something we've yet to even think about.
Again, just my $0.02. Take it for what you will. If you're deadset on thinking ProCare as it was and the New ProCare and One to One is a rip-off, then that is your opinion but by no means do I think this maneuver by Apple is based in greed or profiteering. Quite the contrary, I think Apple thought of the customer first in coming up with this new system.
This is a total rip off .. why should anyone pay and extra 99$ for one new service "Backup Consult" !
My parents were going to get the one to one care programme, until they saw it in action at their local store. You simply sit at the genius bar with someone walking you through this weeks application. Not good enough. They (Apple) need a private room, without the hustle and bustle and noise of the store. It is also totally innapropriate to expect individuals of my parents generation to sit on what amounts to a bar stool for the duration.
The whole thing just didn't have any look or feel other than an ad-hoc operation.
The whole thing just didn't have any look or feel other than an ad-hoc operation.
I tend to agree and in some of the larger flagship stores they might find the space. However, in most of them I doubt it is available.
Regarding the value proposition. I have ProCare and the only thing I have used is the training element. Where I am, the Genius who does the FCP stuff is first class. He works part-time at the Apple Store and runs his own graphics and video business for the rest of the time.
I doubt I will renew the ProCare element, but I would sign up for the one 2 one training which for me is very good value.
Are you 5 years old and your parents are in their 20's?
To get ProCares 52 sessions for $99, works out at amazing value. To expect a private room for that is expecting too much. But I would have thought if they had asked to go somewhere quiet, I am sure that could have been sorted out.
I have been in many of the "private" rooms at my local apple store including the board room, just to discuss the state of my logic board.
Based on my personal experience (Apple has replaced my MacBook five times already, and even the fifth one has problems), they've already started building crappier products.
I am also a ProCare member, and the "first in line" feature is also a bunch of bull. I've tried it, it doesn't work. (Unless you call waiting 40 minutes beyond your scheduled appointment to meet with a Genius "first lin line.")
Granted, my experience is at the Tokyo Apple Stores (both Ginza and Shibuya), and so the service might be better in other countries.
No ur not the only one, the card is really cool, Pro care should be standard with apple care or something
This is a horrible idea.
Apple shouldn't do this. its a decent deal as is. For the extra fee above applecare, procare ought to be left alone.
With this, Procare and the other would be too expensive and crappy.
Apple, you are making enough money right now, no need to turn into microsoft and extort money by making it several product lines with less in it than before.
Apple shouldn't do this. its a decent deal as is. For the extra fee above applecare, procare ought to be left alone.
With this, Procare and the other would be too expensive and crappy.
Apple, you are making enough money right now, no need to turn into microsoft and extort money by making it several product lines with less in it than before.
Because I imagine you will get Business level service with it, which as far as business is concerned is one of Apple's biggest weaknesses.